NS Chicago line derailment

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Phil S

OBS Chief
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On TO there was only a note that as of yesterday NS hadn't even begun to access the site because of hazmat. I don't see any info on the Amtrak disruptions or news pages. (I guess this is just Amtrak's usual attitude toward PR - bustitution on 29/30 is not something passengers need to be told about.) It looks like 48/49 are running rerouted but the Amtrak database gives nothing except a departure time for the most recent 48. Nothing useful in the hews that i could find.

So can anyone fill us in on on what's happening? Thanks!
 
Passengers are being told. Just because Amtrak's PR department doesn't issue a press release doesn't mean passengers aren't informed of what's going on.

Short, one-day disruptions that aren't known about in advance (it's kinda hard to know about a derailment in advance) don't usually warrant a press release.
 
It appears 48/448 arrived in TOL around 9:29 am after leaving CHI at 11:35pm. This is according to the iPhone app (which has seemingly worked better than the website lately). Given the lack of arrival info between CHI and TOL, it definitely took the MI detour. Definitely living up to the Late Shore Limited nickname - I wonder how long this detour will last...

With respect to 30, it left TOL at 11:48pm - which is where the train originated...
 
I was on last night's (Tuesday) Capitol Limited #29. There was a train wide announcement made not long after departure from WAS. It was announced then that all passengers bound for stops after Toledo would be transfered to busses.
 
rile42 said:
I was on last night's (Tuesday) Capitol Limited #29. There was a train wide announcement made not long after departure from WAS. It was announced then that all passengers bound for stops after Toledo would be transfered to busses.
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After departure? Hopefully people were notified BEFORE they boarded. I think first-class passengers, if not all passenegrs, deserve to be told in advance that they're going to be crammed into a bus for hours and hours.

Here's an update on the track work:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46866055
 
phil-s said:
rile42 said:
I was on last night's (Tuesday) Capitol Limited #29. There was a train wide announcement made not long after departure from WAS. It was announced then that all passengers bound for stops after Toledo would be transfered to busses.
Click to expand...


After departure? Hopefully people were notified BEFORE they boarded. I think first-class passengers, if not all passenegrs, deserve to be told in advance that they're going to be crammed into a bus for hours and hours.

Here's an update on the track work:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46866055
Click to expand...
I was in the Club Acela room for about 45 minutes before boarding and I don't recall any announcements regarding the bustitution. However, I cannot say that travelers weren't informed when they checked in as I had checked in early in the morning. Also, we were leaving the train in Cleveland so we weren't involved anyway.
 
Trogdor said:
Passengers are being told. Just because Amtrak's PR department doesn't issue a press release doesn't mean passengers aren't informed of what's going on.

Short, one-day disruptions that aren't known about in advance (it's kinda hard to know about a derailment in advance) don't usually warrant a press release.
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No, a "press release" is not warranted but a "service disruption" notice is.

There are surely passenger on board these trains who are getting picked up by other people down the line, and not everyone has a cell phone. If someone is dutifully checking

the Amtrak website to see when Granny's train is arriving, they'll get absolutely zilch in terms of info. So that spurs a call to the Amtrak 800-number, tying up agents who could be

serving other people.

I mean, I have a personal blog and I can churn out a post with some basic info in, what, a couple of minutes? Seriously, how hard would it be for Amtrak to do the same on their

own website?
 
MrFSS said:
Local news report and video.

LINK
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One of the tank cars with loaded with wine. I'm glad it was an eastbound freight. The concept of a westbound tankcar of wine is scary. Then again any wine sold by the tankcar........ What do the cars carry when not carrying wne?
 
phil-s said:
rile42 said:
I was on last night's (Tuesday) Capitol Limited #29. There was a train wide announcement made not long after departure from WAS. It was announced then that all passengers bound for stops after Toledo would be transfered to busses.
Click to expand...
After departure? Hopefully people were notified BEFORE they boarded. I think first-class passengers, if not all passenegrs, deserve to be told in advance that they're going to be crammed into a bus for hours and hours.
Click to expand...
Even if they had, and were on a train (say from Florida) already, what difference would it make if they were told in advance? I believe the derailment happened AFTER their departure from FL, so I doubt they would have delayed their trip!
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I guess they could have stayed in WAS and paid for a hotel for 3 or 4 days and then hope that train had a sleeper available!

By the way, the Cardinal had already departed by the time they got to WAS, and the LSL would have departed before they arrived at NYP. Also if they were able to get the LSL, they would have been affected by the same derailment!
 
Current plan is to turn the Cap and the LSL at Toledo through Friday, with beyond Toledo passengers being bussed. NS expects to clear the line very late Friday or early Saturday, so whether the Friday departure from the east will make it through is still not determined, decision to be made sometime on Friday based on NS's situation.
 
Thanks Jis for the update. Mike H is riding 49 to chicago on 4/1/12 where I will meet him and we will both ride west on 27. I suspect the connection will be safe even with some residual freight traffic.
 
Steve4031 said:
Thanks Jis for the update. Mike H is riding 49 to chicago on 4/1/12 where I will meet him and we will both ride west on 27. I suspect the connection will be safe even with some residual freight traffic.
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As usual there is a caveat, isn't there one always? NS had not even started clearing anything until late yesterday because of the hazmat situation. The estimate was that it would take them about 48 hours to clean up the mess once they could get started. I have not heard anything definitive that they have started yet. But assuming they got started late yesterday Sunday is a good bet for everything to be more or less back to normal. But if they didn't well who knows?

Connection will possibly be safe even with bustitution, should it come down to that. It is not like these trains run blazingly fast between Toledo and Chicago.
 
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If a similar accident occurs a year or more from now, blocking the NS route west of Toledo, would Amtrak re-route both the LSL and CL on a daily basis through Michigan, rather than bustitution? By then, Amtrak should have control of the 135 miles of NS tracks and have addressed the slow orders. The CSX tunnel work in MD that restricts CL from running very late eastbound will be completed. They would just have to deal with the slower tracks from Toledo to the Detroit area, correct? The LSL diversion route to Michigan took NS tracks?

Once the 110 mph upgrades are done in Michigan with 235 miles of up to 110 mph line (and the Englewood flyover is complete, fate of the Indiana Gateway project still TBD), I would think the idea of running one of the two LD trains, probably the CL to Dearborn and through Michigan will be re-considered.
 
That idea sounds interesting - as someone in MI, I'd definitely appreciate being able to ride direct to the east coast without a bus to/from TOL (or a long backtrack to CHI). I could definitely see this being potentially used by a lot of students (as the existing service is from ARB and KAL to CHI). If you did it with the CL and also instituted the Pennsylvanian through-cars, you would have direct service from Michigan to PHI/NYP and WAS...
 
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With a perfect run after the entire line has been upped to 110mph CHI - Dearborn would be about 4 hours, and it takes about 2 hrs to 2:30 from Dearborn to Toledo, including cutting in/taking off ITCS equipped engine at Dearborn. So you'd have something like 6 hours or so on a perfect run. Of course a diversion will never be a perfect run, so count for a bit more. Then again perfect run today should be around 7:30 or so, but this last run took 10 hours or so. And it did run at 110mph in the ITCS equipped segment BTW as observed by and reported by someone who was on the train, in trainorders.com.

So bottom line feasible yes, but what happens in reality I am sure will depend on the specific situation, equipment and pilot availability on the specific day.
 
I just read another update in train orders that the line is now open to freight traffic. Amtrak will be running through to Chicago on Friday. Of course, I will believe the Amtrak part when I see it.
 
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